Defensive Upgrades/Downgrades by Brian Roberson and Tom Nadratowski Every week, FootballGuys.com's resident Individual Defensive Player (IDP) Gurus - Brian Roberson and Tom Nadratowski- will be providing you with immediate opinions on what players are stepping up their play, which ones are falling down on the job and which players just happened to have a horseshoe in their pocket for one game. DEFENSIVE LINEMEN Upgrades Grant Wistrom - St. Louis (Nadratowski) - This is two weeks in a row that Wistrom has played well, this week with 6-1-0. His late season push could help you guys with playoff aspirations, IF you can still trade for him. Aberrations Marcus Stroud - Jacksonville (Roberson) - Stroud had a horrible statistical game. Dallas is one of those odd teams that can skew stats for defensive players that play against them. Forget this performance and keep him for now. Kenny Holmes - New York (Nadratowski) - With the terrible Houston OL, you knew the Giant DL were going to have a good day. They have allowed an NFL record of 58 sacks against their rookie QB. Holmes is a one week wonder, courtesy of the Texans. Chris Hovan - Minnesota (Nadratowki) - Hovan is frustratingly erratic. He has a lot of talent but doesn't translate it into fantasy stats. This is one of those weeks where Hovan shows up, only to quickly disappear again. Downgrades Robert Porcher - Detroit (Nadratowski) - Porcher's knee injury cut short what was a promising rally. This injury looks like it's going to hang around a while. Who knows how many games he'll take up a roster space for you this close to the end of the season with this injury. Aaron Schobel - Buffalo (Roberson) - Schobel has had three consecutive poor weeks. This is his second season but it looks like Schobel has hit the proverbial wall and is no longer putting up good numbers for your team. LINEBACKERS Upgrades Jeff Posey - Houston (Nadratowski) - Quiet for a few weeks, Posey has had a gradual upward trend for the past two weeks, until his explosion this week. He was on the field a lot, and was active in every phase of the game, getting six tackles, a sack and 3 PDs. So it's time to give him an upgrade, however slight. He will probably go back to getting in the area of 5-6 tackles again next week, but maybe that can help you. Anthony Simmons - Seattle (Roberson) - One of the best linebackers in the league has finally made his return. Simmons is a must start each and every week from here on out. His talents will be evident. Bring him off your injury roster or better yet-pick him up NOW. Aberrations Na'il Diggs - Green Bay (Nadratowski) - Diggs is another player who has big games on the same schedule as Haley's comet. He should just fade away again after this week. Downgrades Wali Rainer - Jacksonville (Nadratowski) - After playing well for a while, Rainer has been slipping back towards the "barely startable" category. Slaughter outplayed him this week to boot. Kendrell Bell - Pittsburgh (Roberson) - This guy is just one fat disappointment after another. How can a guy with this much promise continue to fall short each week? The loss of Earl Holmes is apparently too much to overcome. Marcus Bell - Seattle (Roberson) - With A Simmons returning, Bell is the odd man out. Bell has been very productive for the team so if your league is deep, consider keeping him in case another injury bites the Seahawks' linebackers in the arse. Dan Morgan - Carolina (Roberson) - Look the guy is just flat out injury prone. Look for other options. Because of his talent, he makes our mouths water. But to produce, you HAVE to be on the field! Donte Curry - Detroit (Nadratowski) - Two weeks in a row of poor performances gets him the upgrade. He looks like another of those players that started out hot and then faded (e.g., LB Leber). Rob Frederickson - Arizona (Roberson) - Frederickson is injured and will be out for numerous weeks. His best days were already behind him but now he'll finish this season on the bench or splitting time with Levar Fisher. DEFENSIVE BACKS Upgrades Corey Chavous - Minnesota (Nadratowski) - Chavous finally had a good outing at his new position at safety. Maybe it just took him a week to get used to his new position. Still, for his improvement over last week, he gets an upgrade. Todd Lyght - Detroit (Nadratowski) - Lyght is averaging six tackles and a PD per game. For that, he gets an upgrade. There is a slight chance that he may still be around for those who could use a good spot play/backup. Aberrations David Barrett - Arizona (Nadratowski) - Barret played well simply because of the amount of passing the Raiders put up on the Cards. Barrett will also disappear again next week. Brian Kelly - Tampa Bay (Nadratowski) - Kelly has been playing well, but his two interceptions qualify him for the aberration column. Obviously that is unlikely to continue Downgrades Shaunard Harts - Kansas City (Nadratowski) - Harts was a tackling machine earlier, but has slowed down. The LBs have been tackling better as of late. As bad as the Chiefs D has been you'd hope that he'll bounce back. For now I'm giving him a small downgrade. Brock Marion - Miami (Roberson) - Marion used to be top notch as far as point producing safeties. He's clearly lost a step. No longer someone to depend on, he's not even the best safety on his own team. To make matters worse, he is not collecting special teams' tackles anymore either.